
Glass. 
Book 



El 



Cmrnltt 






Abraham Lincoln 

& His hast Resting Place 



A Leaflet Published for 
Distribution at the National 
Lincoln Monument in the 
City of Springfield, Illinois 



Compiled by EDWARD S 
Johnson, Custodian 



THE Life of Abraham Lincoln has been written by many 
men in many tongues. The resources of rhetoric and 
eloquence have been exhausted in heir portrayal ot this 
character that however viewed holds a lesson for all mankind. 
In this brief space and for the purpose which this leaflet is 
designed to serve, the simple homely details of the martyred 
President's early life could not be better told than in his own 
words. No polished recital could be so prized by the great 
multitude who hold his memory dear as this transcript of a 
letter written in 1859 to his friend the Hon. Jesse W. Fell, of 
Bloomington, Illinois: 



.6 

TV c 

/?/o 

Uncolnia 



^7 



*o2/ ^ 



*^-»-» 



0- 



^W A^v^r «t*~ A^ A^ *y Uc^^, *f< 

/^U^^ erf *s£*r^ />^^ (y*-^-~^ * r 

u. (K~^ c^cu,, J£&~^- %^/^z^f^ 

*^vl 6^, iVy—, & a^j=^. ******;*- 

-(Jv-T ^- ^~^ ^ ^; ^— ^ /**-* V' 

_ o~ vu*,**^ <^ e-n 6— ^/^7 

H ^ &L^ ^^ **— ^<rv<, f* <*****>,> ^^r^ ' 

D. Of w« 
DEC 6 I9W 










A 

/Uz^-v^. ty-a-***'/ /%!& J &<i^e+s t^rr^-f ,-C-^ja^cZZj __^ £^W ^-^M C^*^-> 
J (Is+^j ^>L<a-^-0 ^/-<-a-Hr /**<*-£Hj -»CL ^^^ /ce*7^-£o— « (2/VW ^**-WC 



Or^—o ^*^Uw^ ' /Vk-»Jo~ «^ •'K-«— . — o ^jx^tk-o A^-^—q^j' C^CLi^j ^ 







ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


5 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN little thought as he penned the words, 
"What I have done since then is pretty well known,'" that a 
world would one day listen enthralled to the tale of what he had 
done and should do in the decade from 1855 to 1865. 

In 1854, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 opened a 
new political era. and an agitation of the slavery question was begun 
which was destined to grow until the shackles were struck forever from 
the hands of the slave. 

By this repeal slavery claimed protection everywhere; it sought to 
nationalize itself. At this time the question of "popular sovereignty" 
arose, the right of the people of a territory to choose their own institu- 
tions, and upon this question Mr Lincoln and Mr. Douglas fought the 
"battle of the giants," and Mr. Lincoln's signal ability as an orator 
was forever established. He became at once the leader of his party in 
the West and the foremost champion of the liberties of the oppressed. 

In a private letter, written at this time, Mr. Lincoln defines his 
position on the great question of the day as follows: 

"I acknowledge your rights and my obligations under the consti- 
tution in regard to your slaves. I confess I hate to see the poor crea- 
tures hunted down and caught and carried back to their stripes and 
unrequited toil, but I keep quiet. You ought to appreciate how much 
the great body of the people of the North crucify their feelings in order 
to maintain their loyalty to the Constitution and the Union. / do 
oppose the extension of slavery because my judgment and feelings so 
prompt me, and I am under no obligations to the contrary. As a na- 
tion we began by declaring 'all men are created equal. ' We now prac- 
tically read it, 'all men are created equal except negroes.' When it 
comes to making wholesale exceptions I should prefer emigrating to 
some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty, where 
despotism can be taken pure without the base alloy of hypocrisy. 

Your friend, A. Lincoln. " 

May 29, 1856, the Republican party of Illinois was organized, and 
he was now the leader of a party whose avowed purpose it was to re- 
sist the extension of slavery. At the national convention his name 
was presented as a candidate for vice-president. He did not receive 
the required number of votes, but the action was complimentary and 
served as Mr. Lincoln's formal introduction to the nation. 

The senatorial campaign of 1858 in Illinois was memorable for the 
questions involved and for the debates between Douglas and Lincoln 
upon the great issues that were even then distracting the nation. 
When these two met in intellectual combat the nation paused to listen. 



A B R 


A 


H 


A M 


LINCOLN 


6 






and his 


LAST RESTING PLACE 



" The eyes of all the Eastern states were turned to the west where young 
republicanism and old democracy were establishing the dividing lines 
and preparing for the great struggle soon to begin. 

To say that Mr. Lincoln was the victor in the contest morally and 
intellectually is simply to record the judgment of the world. 

His speeches were clear, logical, powerful and exhaustive. On 
these his reputation as an orator and clebator rests. They defined the 
difference between the power of slavery and the policy of freedom 
which ended, after expenditures of uncounted treasure and unmeasured 
blood, in the final overthrow of the institution of slavery. 

Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this campaign and Mr. Douglas was 
returned to the Senate, but Mr. Lincoln was now thoroughly committed 
to politics. In 1859 and I860 he journeyed in the Eastern states, 
making speeches that thrilled and electrified the audiences which he 
had expected to find cold and critical. 

The mutterings of secession already filled the land. The spirit of 
unrest and rebellion was gaining ground; but wherever the voice of 
Lincoln was heard it was pleading for union, for peace, for the Consti- 
tution, deprecating the evils of slavery as it existed and protesting 
against its extension into free states and territories. 

His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, warning the 
men of the North and the South that a house divided against itself 
cannot stand. On the 18th of May, 1860, Mr. Lincoln received the 
nomination of the republican convention held at Chicago for President 
of the United States. How this plain, comparatively unknown Illinois 
lawyer was chosen in this critical hour before a man like Seward, with 
his wide experience and acquaintance, his large influence and surpass- 
ing ability, his name and fame of thirty years standing, must be re- 
garded as the guiding of that Providence that had brooded over the 
life of the republic since it declared itself to be the home of the free, 
the refuge of the oppressed. On the 6th of November Mr. Lincoln 
was elected, by a handsome plurality, President of the United States. 

At eight o'clock Monday morning, February 11, 1861, Mr. Lin- 
coln left Springfield for the National Capital to enter upon his duties 
as President. With these simple words he took leave of his friends 
and neighbors: 

"My friends: No one not in my position can appreciate the sad- 
ness I feel at this parting. To this people 1 owe all that 1 am. Here 
I have lived more than a quarter of a century; here my children were 



ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


7 



born, and here one of thorn lies buried. I know not how soon I shall 
see you again. A duty devolves upon me which is perhaps greater 
than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of 
Washington. He never would have succeeded except by the aid of 
Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I 
cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and 
on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support, and I 
hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine as- 
sistance without which 1 cannot succeed but with which success is 
certain. Again 1 bid you an affectionate farewell." 

These proved to be his last words to Springfield auditors. 

The result of this election pleased and united the North while it 
angered the South. To the more thoughtful men of both parties a 
crisis seemed imminent. The Southern states immediately seceded; 
the Southern Confederacy was formed with Jefferson Davis as Presi- 
dent; forts and arsenals were seized and the war of the rebellion fairly 
inaugurated. It was this disrupted Union, this all but shattered 
government, which waited for the man who upon the 4th day of March, 
1861, took the oath of office and became the President of the United 
States. 

The closing words of his memorable inaugural address must have 
convinced his listeners of the wisdom, the strength, the gentleness of 
this new incumbent of the chair of State: 

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in 
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not 
assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the 
aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the 
government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, pro- 
tect and defend it. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but 
friends. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle- 
field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over 
this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again 
touched, as they surely will be, by the better angels of our nature. " 

With infinite patience and unequaled forbearance and sagacity, 
Mr. Lincoln strove to avert war, but when, on April 12, 1861, the rebel 
batteries were opened upon Fort Sumpter, forbearance was no longer 
possible, and, on the loth day of April, the pen that had only been 
used to counsel moderation, to urge loyalty, penned a proclamation 
calling for seventy-five thousand men and the Civil War was begun. 
The popular government had been called an experiment. Two points 
of the experiment had already been settled: The government had 
been established and it had been administered. One point remained 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

8 and HIS LA ST RESTING place 

to be established: Its successful maintenance against a formidable 
internal attempt to overthrow it. Congress ably supported Mr. Lin- 
coln. It placed at his disposal five hundred million dollars and gave 
him liberty to call out half a million men. During all the years of that 
long, sad war there were loyal hearts among his admirers that held up 
the hands of their President, but the crowning personality, the strong, 
pervading, directing, controlling spirit was that of Abraham Lincoln, 
whether watching the progress of events from his almost beleagured 
capital or while visiting and mingling with his army at the front. 

Never for a moment did he lay aside his personal responsibility. 
Never did he swerve from his resolve, expressed in the words of his 
memorable speech at the dedication of the soldiers' graves at Gettys- 
burg : 

"We have come to dedicate a portion of this field as a final resting- 
place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. 
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we 
cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our power to add or de- 
tract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, 
but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, 
rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who 
fought here have so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here 
dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these hon- 
ored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave 
the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these 
dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under Clod, shall 
have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by 
the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth. " 

The story of the war and the life of Lincoln are inseparable. The 
recital of all those years of marching, camping, fighting, of wounds, 
privations, victory, defeat and death cannot be made without the story 
of Lincoln interwoven into its warp and woof. In intimate connection 
with his life as President, many beautiful letters remain written during 
this period of storm and stress, and they attest to his quick and un- 
failing sympathy with those in trouble. Such is the line written in 
haste carrying pardon to the worn-out lad sentenced to he shot for 
sleeping at his post. 

The letter sent to the gentle Quaker, Eliza P. Gurney, who, on be- 
half of her people, the Friends, protested against what seemed to them, 
the great sin of war. To her he writes: 




LINCOLN MONUMENT 



?+ 








(X 



— 

EH 




3 

a- 
o 

= 





£J 



CD g 



*3 03 



o 



ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


17 



"Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty convul- 
sion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. Your 
people, the Friends, have had, and are having, a very great trial. On 
principle and faith, opposed to both war and oppression, they can 
only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard dilemma, 
some have chosen one horn and some the other. For those appealing 
to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I 
could and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the law. 
That you believe this I doubt not ; and believing it, I shall still receive, 
for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in 
Heaven. " 

Only a few months before his death he heard the pathetic story of 
Mrs. Bixby of Boston, Mass., who had given up five sons who had died 
in their country's service. Mr. Lincoln wrote her this beautiful letter 
of condolence which is said to rank next to his Gettysburg address in 
depth of feeling, beauty and simplicity of diction: 

"Executive Mansion, 
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864. 
"To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass.: 

"I have been shown in the file of the war department a statement 
to the adjutant-general of Massachusetts that you are the mother of 
five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how 
weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to 
beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot 
refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the 
thanks of the republic the}' died to save. I pray that our Hcavenlv 
Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave only 
the cherished memory of loved and lost and the solemn pride that must 
be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. 
"Yours very sincerely and respectfully, 

"A. Lincoln." 

The days fraught with the grave issues of the war went by, victory 
alternating with defeat until, in the judgment of the commander-in- 
chief, the time had come to emancipate the colored race. 

Early in August of 1862, President Lincoln called a meeting of 
his Cabinet and submitted for their consideration the orginal draft of 
his Emancipation Proclamation. On the 1st day of January, L863, 
Mr. Lincoln issued the final Proclamation of Emancipation, bringing 
freedom to four million of slaves and removing forever from the land 
he loved the blot of slavery. 



A B 


R 


A 


H 


AM LINCOLN 


18 








and his last resting place 



It seemed fitting that to this man who had blazed the way through 
the wilderness for this cause, who had brooded and smarted under the 
sense of the sin of slavery from his early untaught youth, who in 
clarion tones had declared, at the outset of his career, that he "would 
speak for freedom against slavery until everywhere in all this broad 
land the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall and the wind shall blow 
upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil. " It was meet that 
from his lips should fall the words that made four million men free, 
and it is in consonance with the character of the great Emancipator 
that in this supreme moment of his life he reverently invoked upon 
that act "the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor 
of Almighty ( rod. " 

The latter part of the year 1863 was marked by the success of 
Union armies. The Republican National Convention assembled in 
Baltimore, June S, 1864, unanimously nominated Mr. Lincoln as their 
candidate for President. His words accepting this nomination were 
characteristic: 

"Having served four years in the depths of a great and yet un- 
ended national peril, 1 can view this call to a second term in no wise 
more flattering to myself than as an expression of the public judgment 
that I may better finish a difficult work than could any one less severely 
schooled to the task. In this view, and with assured reliance on that 
Almighty Ruler who has so graciously sustained us thus far, and with 
increased gratitude to the generous people for their continued con- 
fidence, 1 accept the renewed trust with its yet onerous and perplexing 
duties and responsibilities. " 

During the height of the canvass, President Lincoln issued a call 
for five hundred thousand men, also making provisions for a draft if 
necessary. His friends feared that this measure might cost him his 
election, but he waived that aside as he always did personal considera- 
tion that might conflict with duty. 

November came, and with it Mr. Lincoln's re-election. His sec- 
ond election proved the death blow to the rebellion. From that time 
the Southern armies never gained a substantial victory. When the 
Thirty-Eighth Congress assembled December f>, L864, President Lin- 
coln recommended an amendment to the Constitution making human 
slavery forever impossible in the United States. 

The joint resolutions for the extinction of slavery passed Congress 
and received the signature of the President January 31, 1865. The 
legislature of Illinois, being then in session, took up the question at 



ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


19 



once and in less than twenty-four hours after its passage by Congress 
Mr. Lincoln had the satisfaction of receiving a telegram from his old 
home announcing the fact that the constitutional amendment had been 
ratified by both houses of the legislature of his own state February 1, 
1865. The action of the legislatures of other states soon followed, and 
thus was completed and confirmed the work of the proclamation of 
emancipation. 

Upon the 4th of March, 1S65, Mr. Lincoln was for the second 
time inaugurated President of the United States. His inaugural ad- 
dress upon that occasion has become a classic. Its closing words have 
been quoted wherever the foot of an American has strayed beneath the 
sun : 

" Fondly do we hope, reverently do we pray that this mighty 
scourge of war may speedily pass away, yet, if God wills that it con- 
tinue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and 
fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of 
blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, 
as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, the judg- 
ments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. With malice 
toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God 
gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to 
bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the 
battle, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace 
among ourselves and with all nations. " 

The closing scenes of the war were being enacted in quick succes- 
sion. Richmond had fallen, and on the 4th day of April, just one 
month after his second inauguration, President Lincoln, leading his 
little son by the hand, entered the vanquished city on foot. Never 
has the world seen a more modest conqueror, a more characteristic 
triumphal procession. No army with banners and drums, only a few 
of those who have been slaves escorting the victorious chief with bene- 
dictions and tears into the capital of the fallen foe. 

A few more days brought the surrender of Lee's army and peace 
was assured. Everywhere festive guns were booming, bells pealing, 
churches ringing with thanksgivings. 

The 14th of April was the anniversary of the fall of Sumpter. 
President Lincoln had ordered that day to be signalized by restoring 
the old flag to its place on the shattered ramparts of Fort Sumpter. 
He ordered the same faithful hands that pulled it down to raise it — 
every battery that fired upon it should salute it. Said the Rev. Henry 
Ward Beecher upon that occasion: "From this pulpit of broken stone 



A 


B 


R 


A 


H 


A M 


LINCOLN 


20 










and his 


LAST RESTING PLACE 



we send to the President of the United States our solemn congratula- 
tions that God has sustained his life and health under the unparalleled 
hardships and suffering of four blood) - years and permitted him to be- 
hold this auspicious consummation of that national unity for which he 
has labored with such disinterested wisdom." 

But, before the kindly words had flashed over the telegraph wires 
to the ears of the patient man in whose honor they were spoken, the 
bullet of the assassin had done its work. The sad words, "I feel a 
presentiment that I shall not outlast the rebellion; when it is over my 
work will be done," were verified, and all civilized mankind stood 
mourning around the bier of the dead President. Then began that 
unparalleled funeral procession, a mournful pageant, passing country 
and village and city, winding along the territories of vast states, along 
a track of fifteen hundred miles, carrying the revered dead back to his 
own people, to the scenes of his early life, back to the prairies of Illi- 
nois. Said Beecher in his eloquent and touching funeral oration: 

"Four years ago, oh, Illinois, we took from your midst an untried 
man from among the people. Behold! we return to you a mighty con- 
queror, not ours any more, but the nation's. Not ours but the world's. 
Give him place, oh ye prairies. In the midst of this great continent 
his dust shall rest, a sacred treasure to the myriads who shall come 
as pilgrims to that shrine to kindle anew their zeal and patriotism. 
Humble child of the backwoods, boatman, hired laborer, clerk, sur- 
veyor, captain, legislator, lawyer, debator, politician, orator, states- 
man, president, savior of the republic, true Christian, true man. We 
receive thy life and its immeasurably great results as the choicest gifts 
that have ever been bestowed upon us; grateful to thee for thy truth 
to thyself, to us and to God; and grateful to that ministry of Provi- 
dence which endowed thee so richly and bestowed thee upon the nation 
and mankind. " 

THE MONUMENT. 

The body of Abraham Lincoln was deposited in the receiving 
vault at Oak Ridge cemetery May t, L865. 

Upon the 11th of May, L865, the National Lincoln Monument 
Association was formed, its object being to construe! a monument to 
the memory of A.braham Lincoln in the city of Springfield, 111. 

The names of the gentlemen comprising the Lincoln Monument 
Association in L865 (now deceased) were as follows: 

<1(>\. Richard Oglesby, Sharon Tyndai.h, 

Orlin 11. Miner, Thomas , I. Dennis, 

John T. Si i mm, Newton Bateman, 



ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


21 



Jesse K. DuBois, S. H. Treat, 

James C. Conkling, 0. M. Batch, 

John Williams, S. H. Melvin, 

Jacob Bunn, James H. Beveridge, 

David L. Phillips. 

The temporary vault was built and the body of President Lincoln 
removed from the receiving vault of the cemetery on December 21, 
1865. The body was placed in the crypt of the monument September 
19, 1871, and was placed in the sarcophagus in the center of the cata- 
comb October 9, 1874. 

Owing to the instability of the earth under its foundations and its 
unequal settling the structure had begun to show signs of disintegra- 
tion, necessitating taking it down and rebuilding it from the founda- 
tion. The work was begun by Col. J. 8. Culver in November, 1899, and 
finished June 1, 1901. A cemented vault was made beneath the floor 
of the catacomb directly underneath the sarcophagus and in this vault 
the body of President Lincoln was placed September 26, 1901, where it 
will probably remain undisturbed forever. 

The monument is built of brick and Quincy granite, the latter 
material only appearing in view. It consists of a square base 72+ feet 
on each side and 15 feet, 10 inches high. At the north side of the 
base is a semi-circular projection, the interior of which has a radius of 
12 feet. It is the vestibule of the catacomb, and gives access to view 
the crypts in which are placed the bodies of Mr. Lincoln's wife and 
sons and his grandson, Abraham Lincoln, son of Hon. Robert T. Lin- 
coln. On the south side of the base is another semi-circular projection 
of the same size, but this is continued into the base so as to produce a 
room of elliptical shape, which is called Memorial Hall. Thus the 
base measures, including these two projections, 119+ feet from north 
to south and 72+ feet from east to west. In the angles formed by the 
addition of these two projections are handsome nights of stone steps, 
two on each end. These steps are projected by granite balustrades, 
which extend completely around the top of the base, which forms a 
terrace. From the plane of this terrace rises the obelisk, or die, which 
is 28 feet, 4 inches high from the ground, and tapered to 11 feet square 
at the top. At the angles of this die are four pedestals of 11 feet di- 
ameter, rising 12V feet above the plane of the terrace. This obelisk, 
including the area occupied by the pedestals, is 41 feet square, while 
from the obelisk rises the shaft, tapering to 8 feet square at the sum- 
mit. Upon the four pedestals stand the four bronze groups, represent- 



A B R 


A 


H 


AM LINCOLN 


22 






and his last resting place 



ing the four arms of the service — infantry, cavalry, artillery and navy. 
Passing around the whole obelisk and pedestal is a band or chain of 
shields, each representing a state, the name of which is carved upon it. 
At the south side of the obelisk is a square pedestal, 7 feet high, sup- 
porting the statue of Lincoln, the pedestal being ornamented with the 
coat of arms of the United States. This coat of arms, in the position 
it occupies on the monument, is intended to typify the constitution of 
the United States. Mr. Lincoln's statue on the pedestal above it 
marks the whole an illustration of his position at the outbreak of the 
rebellion. He took his stand on the constitution as his authority for 
using the four arms of the war power of the government, the infantry, 
cavalry, artillery and navy, to hold together the states which are 
represented still lower on the monument by a cordon of tablets linking 
them together in a perpetual bond of union. 

The money used in the original construction of this handsome 
monument came from the people by voluntary contributions. The 
first entry made by the treasurer of the association was May 8, 1865. 
and was from Isaac Reed, of New York, $100. Then came contribu- 
tions from Sunday schools, lodges, army associations, individuals and 
states. The Seventy-Third Regiment, United States colored troops, 
at Xew Orleans, contributed $1,437, a greater amount than was given 
by any other individual or organization except the State of Illinois. 
Many pages of the record are filled with the contributions from the 
Sunday schools of the land, and of the 5,145 entries, 1,697 are from 
Sunday schools. The largest part of the money was contributed in 
L865, but it continued to come to the treasurer from all parts of the 
country until 1871. About $S,000 was contributed by the colored 
soldiers of the United' States arm)-. Only three states made appro- 
priations for this fund — Illinois, $50,000; Missouri, $1,000 and Nevada 
$500. 

The monument was dedicated October 15, 1S74, the occasion being 
signalized by a tremendous outpouring of the people, the oration 
commemorative of the life and public services of the great emancipator 
being delivered by Governor Richard J. Oglesby. President Gram 
also spoke briefly on that occasion, and a poem was read by James 
Judson Lord. 

Tin' monument was built after the accepted designs of Larkin O. 
Mead, of Florence, Italy, and stands upon an eminence in Oak Ridge 
cemetery, occupying aboul nine acres of ground. Ground was broken 



ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


23 



on the site September 10, 1869, in the presence of 3,000 persons. The 
capstone was placed in position on May 22, 1871. 

In July, 1871, citizens of Chicago, through Hon. J. Young Scam- 
mon, contributed $13,700 to pay for the Infantry group of statuary. 
In the city of New York, under the leadership of Gov. E. D. Morgan, 
137 gentlemen subscribed and paid $100 each, amounting to si3,700, 
for the Naval group. 

Of the four groups of statuary, the Naval group was the first com- 
pleted. This group represents a scene on the deck of a gunboat. 
The mortar is poised ready for action ; the gunner has rolled up a shell 
ready for firing; the boy, or powder monkey, climbs to the highest 
point and is peering into the distance; the officer in command is about 
to examine the situation through his telescope. 

The Infantry group was the next to reach Springfield. Both these 
groups were placed in position on the monument in September, 1S77. 
The Infantry group represents an officer, a private soldier and a drum- 
mer, with arms and accoutrements, marching in expectation of battle. 
The officer in command raises the flag with one hand and, pointing to 
the enemy with the other, orders a charge. The private with the 
musket, as the representative of the whole line, is in the act of execut- 
ing the charge. The drummer boy has become excited, lost his cap, 
thrown away his haversack and drawn a revolver to take part in the 
conflict. 

The Artillery group represents a piece of artillery in battle. The 
enemy has succeeded in directing a shot so well as to dismount the gun. 
The officer in command mounts his disabled piece and with drawn 
saber fronts the enemy. The youthful soldier, with uplifted hands, 
is horrified at the havoc around him. The wounded and prostrate 
soldier wears a look of intense agon}'. 

The Cavalry group, consisting of two human figures and a Ik use 
represents a battle scene. The horse, from whose back the rider lias 
just been thrown, is frantically rearing. The wounded and dying 
trumpeter, supported by a comrade, is bravely facing death. Each of 
these groups cost S 13,700. 

The statue of Mr. Lincoln stands on a pedestal projecting from 
the south side of the obelisk. This is the central figure in the group, 
or series of groups. As we gaze upon this heroic figure the mute lips 
seem again to speak in the memorable words that are now immortal 
We hear again the ringing sentences spoken in 1859 of the slave power: 



A B 


R 


A 


H 


AM LINCOLN 


24 








and his last resting place 



"Broken by it, I too, may be; bow to it, I never will. * * 
If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimen- 
sions not wholly unworthy of its almighty architect, it is when I con- 
template the cause of my country deserted by all the world beside, and 
I, standing up boldly and alone, hurling defiance at her victorious 
oppressors. Here, without contemplating consequences, before high 
Heaven and in the face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the 
just cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, my liberty and my 
love. " 

From the day of its dedication, October 15, 1874, until July 9, 
L895, the Lincoln Monument remained in the control of the National 
Lincoln Monument Association. 

In 1874, after its dedication, John Carroll Power was made custo- 
dian, and continued in that position until his death in January, 1894. 
A sketch of the Lincoln Monument could not, in fairness, be written 
without paying a tribute to his faithfulness, zeal and love. He revered 
the nation's hero and gave to his last resting place the tenderest and 
most assiduous care. Much that is of interest in the history of this 
first decade of the existence of the monument has been written by his 
untiring pen that would otherwise have been lost. 

After the attempt was made to steal the body of President Lincoln, 
Mr. Power summoned to his aid, in 1880, eight gentlemen, residents of 
Springfield, who organized as the "Lincoln Guard of Honor." They 
were J. Carroll Power, deceased; Jasper N. Reece, deceased; Gustavus 
S. Dana; James F. McNeill; Joseph P. Lindley; Edward 8. Johnson; 
Horace Chapin; Noble B. Wiggins, deceased, and Clinton L. Conkling. 
Their object was to guard the precious dust of Abraham Lincoln from 
vandal hands ami to conduct, upon the anniversaries of his birth and 
death, suitable memorial exercises. 

During these years an admittance fee of twenty-five cents was re- 
quired of all visitors to the monument, and this small fee constituted a 
Fund by which the custodian was paid and the necessary expenses of 
the cure of the grounds defrayed. 

In the winter of L894, in response to a demand voiced almost uni- 
versally by the press and the people of Illinois, the general assembly 
made provision for the transfer of the National Lincoln Monument 
and grounds to the permanent care and. custody of the state The new 
law puts the monument into the charge of a board of control, consist- 
ing of the Governor of the State, the State Supel'ilit endi'Hl of Public 

Instruction and the State Treasurer. 



ABRAHAM LINCO 


L N 


and his last resting place 


25 



July 9, 1895, Hon. Richard J. Oglesby, the President, the only sur- 
viving member of the original Lincoln Monument Association, turned 
over to the State, as represented by its chief executive, Governor Alt- 
geld, the deeds and papers relating to the monument and grounds. 
The governor received the trust on behalf of the State, pledging its 
faithfulness to the duty of guarding and caring for the last resting 
place of the illustrious dead. The commission appointed as custodian 
Edward S. Johnson, major of the veteran 7th Illinois Infantry and a 
member of the Lincoln Guard of Honor. The admittance fee is a 
thing of the past and "To this Mecca of the people Let all the people 
come, bringing garlands of flowers, carrying away lessons of life. 
There is no shrine more worthy of a devotee, no academy of the porch 
or grove where is taught so simply and so grandly the principles of 
greatness. Strew flowers, but bear away the imprint of his life, the 
flower of manliness and the wreath of honor, "t 

In the two score years since the death of Abraham Lincoln the 
scars of war have healed, the peace and unity for which he prayed 
have been realized, and it seems fitting to bring this brief recital of his 
life and the story of the strife from which it is inseparable up to date 
with this glance at the present: 

"I have seen the new South! But I saw it not by the Potomac, 
nor by the Cumberland. I saw it by the shores of that peaceful lake 
whose waters are broad enough to carry the fleet of the world and 
deep enough to bury in its bosoms all the hatred and all the sorrows of 
the past. I saw the new South, with her helmet on, bowing to the 
august Present. 

"She had not forgotten the Past, but was bravely giving herself 
to a welcoming Future. There is a great city in the North, known 
all over as the type of restless, eager, business activity. Behold, on 
one day every shop and store and factory was closed! The hum of 
trade was hushed! The pulse of traffic had ceased to beat! And all 
this was because Chicago, gathering her own dead to her heart, found 
room for the brothers who wore the gray. Longstreet and Lee and 
Hampton sat at her hearths while the bugle and the drum proclaimed 
the everlasting peace. 

"When the monument which marks the tomb of the Confederate 
dead at Oakwoods was dedicated, North and South marched together 
in streets thronged not with enemies but friends. 

"Remembering their own heroic dead, the North reverently un- 
covered while the South gave tears and flowers to her's. 

"The new South stood in line with the new North, and above them 
both towered a form brave, puissant, serene and U-w. It was the 
New t Nation."*. 

t Rev. Roswell O. Post's oration a1 the tomb of Lincoln, April, 1883. 

* From George K. Peek's oration before the University of Virginia, June, 1895. 

The compiler wishes in acknowledge indebtedness /<> J . G. Holland's Lift <>/ Lincoln. 




Springfield, III. 

State Journal Co., Printers 

1910 






